A warm, fuzzy miracle: Cat reunited with his owner after missing for four years

BARRINGTON — As crimes go this isn't much of a story. There was a hit-and-run, but the cat that was hit wasn't the one who ran. The details are “Fuzzy.” What it is, though, is an even better story, one of persistence, hope, faith and luck.

By DANIEL COOKnews@fosters.com

fosters.com

By DANIEL COOKnews@fosters.com

Posted Mar. 13, 2014 at 3:15 AM
Updated Mar 13, 2014 at 5:50 PM

By DANIEL COOKnews@fosters.com

Posted Mar. 13, 2014 at 3:15 AM
Updated Mar 13, 2014 at 5:50 PM

BARRINGTON — As crimes go this isn't much of a story. There was a hit-and-run but the cat that was hit wasn't the one who ran.

The details are “Fuzzy.”

What it is, though, is an even better story, one of persistence, hope, faith and luck.

Fuzzy is the cat who “ran,” wandered off and was lost for four years before a chance encounter with his owner, Michelle Wright, who knew in her heart she would one day find him.

Wright could have given up hope long ago when she heard the heart-wrenching news from her neighbor.

After spending weeks in July 2010 searching for her lost cat, Fuzzy, a neighbor told Wright that a black and white cat resembling hers had been struck by a car.

“I was devastated,” she said. “But I would always keep my eye out for him when I was in the area.”

Wright's persistence and faith paid off just this past Sunday when she and her husband walked into Pet Connections, a Barrington pet store near her home, to see a very familiar feline face.

“I just knew it was him,” she said.

However, Wright knew intuition alone was not enough proof. She ran back to her home and retrieved all her pictures of Fuzzy for comparison. It was a perfect match. Everything down to the black spot on his bottom paw was just as Wright remembered.

“I just started bawling,” Wright said. “I don't know how and I don't know why, but I don't care.”

It took one day for Wright to officially reclaim Fuzzy because she had to contact the Cocheco Valley Humane Society and complete the adoption process. Pet Connections had been fostering Fuzzy on behalf of the Dover shelter for only a week before the cat's fortuitous meeting with Wright.

Fuzzy's journey back to his rightful owner was a tumultuous one. According to Wright, Fuzzy had been bouncing between adopted homes and the Cocheco Valley shelter since his disappearance in 2010.

He lived with one woman for seven months and another family for more than a year before they had to relocate and leave Fuzzy behind. Despite the revolving kitty doors, Wright says Fuzzy still remembered her and his original name.

“His named was changed to Molson by his last owner, but when I called out 'Fuzzy' he reacted right away,” she said.

When the cat bounded over and placed his paws on Wright's knees, she felt the same bond she had during the cat's birth five years earlier.

“He was a Valentine's Day cat,” she said. “The first date my husband I actually had was on Valentine's Day 2009 when we were baby-sitting my sister's pregnant cat and Fuzzy was born.”

Wright feels her reunion with Fuzzy after four years apart can serve as inspiration for those who have lost loved ones.